Abstract
In this paper, the bifurcation behavior of a flexible rotor supported on nonlinear squeeze film dampers without centralized springs is analyzed numerically by means of rotor trajectories, Poincar maps, bifurcation diagrams and power spectra, based on the short bearing and cavitated film assumptions. It is shown that there also exist two different operations (i.e., socalled bistable operations) in some speed regions in the rotor system supported on the nonlinear squeeze film dampers without centralized springs. In the bistable operation speed regions, the rotor system exhibits synchronous, sub-synchronous, sub-super-synchronous and almost-periodic as well as nonperiodic motions. The periodic bifurcation behaviors of the rotor system supported on nonlinear squeeze film dampers without centralized springs are very complex and require further investigations.